Tag Archive: Rescue Operation

It’s Sunday again, time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above) and snippet Sunday (click the logo below.) This quote is again from Rescue Operation, following last week’s. The first speaker is Roi, and “it” is Zhaim’s artificial conscience.

“I worked with her to implant it, which is something none of the rest of you did. I know how hard it was, even for her.” He hesitated, but the pause gave Derik an opportunity to speak again.

“And you’ve chosen to keep the memory intact, with all of its emotional baggage. Roi, you’re not a vindictive person. Why don’t you strip the memory into computer storage, like the rest of us have? I’m not defending Zhaim on the Horizon vote. His judgment was atrocious.”

The snippet is again from Rescue Operation, with Derry being the first to speak.

“Concentrate on how this policy is hardening anti-Confederation sentiment on Horizon. On other planets without slavery, for that matter. Whatever you do, don’t present this as a disagreement between you and Zhaim. Your paranoia where Zhaim is concerned is too well known already.”

“Paranoia.” Roi snorted. “Derik, he tried to kill me. Yes, it was more than two and a half centuries ago. Yes, Marna’s artificial conscience should prevent his ever deliberately harming anyone again.”

It’s Sunday again, time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above) and Snippet Sumday (click the logo below.) This is again a quote from Rescue Operation, following on from last week.

What neither Roi nor the Council had realized was that a group of parasitized Humans were ready to move in on Rakal the instant the R’il’noids were no longer guarding the system. The infection would be self-limiting—the parasite could not reproduce in Humans, and the infection could only be maintained by bringing in captive Maungs. With both Maungs and R’il’noids on patrol, that would not happen often—but the original population of the planet was now being treated as a food supply and hostages by the parasitized Humans, who considered themselves to be a different and superior species.

The Confederation rescued those they could, but the entire Inner Council had agreed that Rakal would be a unique episode. No further planets could leave the Confederation—but that decision had set up the potential disaster on Horizon.

“We have two distinct problems,” Kaia said, “and we’d better treat it that way. Horizon’s an emergency, and I agree with Roi on that. But I’m not sure what we can do beyond trying to get a reconsideration. All Zhaim’s supporters are on planet, so that means we need seventeen votes.”

“And he made it sound so reasonable. Like it wouldn’t be anything but a threat, and the Horizon government would respond to the threat by paying its levies. Well, it isn’t. In fact, it’s voted to leave the Confederation—only you pushed through that rule that they couldn’t.”

Roi hadn’t had to push very hard, and he’d had good reason. Another planet, Rakal, had voted to leave the Confederation five years before. As far as Roi was concerned, the Confederation existed primarily to prevent wars between planets—but that wasn’t why the ancestors of modern Humans had set it up. Humans shared space with a number of other species. Most had preferred different types of planets than those suitable for Humans, so relationships generally involved trade rather than hostilities.

Again, this snippet is from Rescue Operation, continuing from last week.

Henceforth, he’d suggest to the Council, any councilor who had to leave Central to untangle a sticky situation beyond one-ended teleport range would take an aide who could anchor a return teleport. For the few member systems beyond two-ended range, they’d set up a chain of anchors. And members in the field would keep in touch with Council decisions.

“Good idea,” Mako said when Roi’s office had become a temporary meeting place for the eleven that the regent trusted. “But it wouldn’t have stopped this vote. Zhaim may have been—must have been—lobbying those who voted for it. The rest of us had no warning at all.”

Sunday’s the day for snippets from all kinds of authors. To find those posting on Weekend Writing Warriors, click the logo above; for snippet Sunday click the logo below. Today’s snippet is a continuation from Rescue Operation.

Photo Source

None of the other three had really finished the jobs they had left Central to do, but Derry had an answer to that. Is Cory around? he asked. If he is, boost him out—I’ll anchor. Then he can anchor for me to get me back here.

That’d work for them all, Roi realized—and for him, next time he needed to leave Central. He’d already decided never again to leave without setting up regular contact with someone he trusted. Any High R’il’noid could anchor over the distances usually spanned within the Confederation, and there were generally a few working as aides to the Inner councilors.

Sorry for the old photo today, but I’m still in the hospital fighting this laptop. At least I’m back in Fairbanks, but as those who read this blog know, I went back the the emergency room Saturday when I couldn’t keep food down. They diagnosed pneumonia and were ready to take me to Xray when I had a heart attack. The heart attack apparently did no damage to my heart, but was due to my blood magnesium being so low it wasn’t getting the right electrical stimulation.

The whole thing can probably be traced to my ovarian, and possibly my breast, cancer going metastatic. Yeah, even the right lung may be cancer rater than pneumonia. So far there’s no pain, but my doctor came by yesterday afternoon and said probably 6-12 months.

So I’m looking for beta readers and possibly a literary executor of the Horizon War trilogy: Rescue Operation, Both Sides Now, and War’s End. Any volunteers?

Sunday is the day for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above for other participants) and Snippet Sunday (click the logo below.)

I am continuing to post from Rescue Operation. Roi Is the first to speak, finishing the sentence Emeraude started last week.

Source: Hubblesite.org
“And mine. She’s Lai’s daughter, and she has a mind of her own.” With boosting, he thought he could reach Derry, Kaia and Wif telepathically, even without a planned contact. They wouldn’t know what had happened, any more than he had, and his first priority had better be to let them know, even if they couldn’t break away right now.

***

By choice Roi was an esper Healer, an artist, and devoted to his family. The Healing talent was a legacy from his R’il’nian father, the last survivor of the now-extinct R’il’nai. His creativity was a gift from the Human mother he could barely remember. His love for children and other small, helpless things might have come from his mother as well, though he thought it just as likely to have been learned from Marna, the R’il’nian stepmother who had taught him to use the Healing ability he’d been born with.

It’s Sunday again, time for Weekend Writing Warriors (click the logo above for links to other fine authors) and Snippet Sunday (click the logo at the bottom of the page.)

I am continuing to post from Rescue Operation. Roi is still speaking, continuing his remark that Zhaim has 8 councilors loyal to his idea of R’il’noids are the only ones worth considering.

Source: Hubblesite.org
“At best they believe in the letter of the law rather than its spirit; at worst they look on the Confederation as R’il’noid property. With me and my three strongest supporters gone, all he’d have needed was three of the four swing votes—and he can be awfully persuasive when he wants to be.” Roi was checking the voting record as he spoke. “Yes—all of his eight were in the eleven, and all the ones here I can count on were in the nine. Along with Tethya, bless her.”

“Tethya? She sides with Zhaim more often than with you, doesn’t she? She’s his sister …”

She had seen immediately what the Inner Council had missed—how the citizens of Horizon would most likely react. Keishala and Lelani were dear to him, but right now they were best off preparing for Keishala’s next concert. Emeraude might be a real help.

“Put together a summary of what you can find about Horizon for the last forty-four years — since Zhaim took over from me as Guardian. I’ll check out the Council vote myself — though I’ve got a sickening feeling I know what happened. I can usually count on eleven of the others to see things my way, and there are eight that follow Zhaim.”

I pre-scheduled this, but I’m off at a writers’ conference. I’ll be late responding to comments and visiting around, but I will get to it next week. Believe me, comments are appreciated.